The new Renault Zoe is expected to have a range of up to 186 miles (300km) in suburban environments.
Photograph: Anthony Bernier/Renault

Renault has unveiled a new electric car that it claims will overcome psychological barriers among drivers who fear running out of power between charges.

Launched on Thursday ahead of the Paris motor show, the latest Zoe model will have the longest range of any mainstream electric vehicle, the French carmaker said.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with US-headquartered Tesla, whose models match the Zoe’s 250-mile (400km) battery, but Renault said it was competing for a different market. Most mainstream electric cars, such as those by BMW and Nissan, have a range of 100-150 miles.

“We are breaking psychological barriers with the range ... 300km [186 miles, the car’s expected range in suburban environments] is a real threshold in the mind of the people,” said Eric Feunteun, vice-president of Renault’s electric vehicle programme.

“We are offering the same range as Tesla for a totally different price. I don’t consider Tesla as an issue; Tesla is a good thing because they create a good image for electric vehicles and because people like to have choices.”

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The car’s battery, made in partnership with LG, has nearly twice the capacity, employs different chemistry and weighs twice as much as the battery in the original Zoe, which had a range of 149 miles.

“This is a real breakthrough,” said Feunteun. “It’s quite simple to understand but not simple to do – to put twice as much energy in the same box.”

He said that although some countries, such as the UK, were reducing their subsidies for the greener cars, pressures like the Paris climate agreement meant more governments were still pouring more money into supporting them.

“At this stage in 2016 the incentives are growing in Europe. Germany has started, part of Belgium started. We have not yet reached the highest point of incentives,” Feunteun added.

There are now around 1.26m electric cars worldwide, up from 6,000 in 2009. Feunteun said growth had been robust because of customer satisfaction with the vehicles and because technological advances were happening faster than expected.

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But a report released this week by the European Environment Agency warned that although a serious roll-out of the cars could significantly help EU efforts to combat air pollution and climate change, it would also put stress on power grids.

“It’s true and not true. It’s true if you say all cars move tomorrow to electric and all charge at 7am,” said Feunteun.

“But the reality is today that, for energy companies, electric cars are an opportunity, to help the grid store electricity and regulate it. With the growth of unstable [intermittent] sources of energy like wind and solar, you need some buffer behind it, and those electric cars can be those buffers.”

The new Zoe will be delivered to UK drivers in November and is expected to sell for around £17,000 from Saturday after a £4,500 government grant. The Tesla Model S, which has a similar 248-mile range, retails at £53,500 and up.